"7 Important Elements For Summer Retreat" Pt. 1

I decided to post a series of blog posts based on the teleconference we did called "7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat". This is for all of you who don't have time to listen to the recording.

I really like entrepreneurial stories of how people started out with nothing but an idea and created something amazing. Something about those stories really excites and challenges me.

I’m going to start with a story about a famous company whose success depends on an exact formula.

It's a story about Coca-Cola .

You might not know this, but Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist.

He concocted the formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886 by mixing lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub.

Coca-Cola, as he called the beverage, made its debut in Atlanta's largest pharmacy, Jacob's Pharmacy, as a five cent non- carbonated drink. Later on, the carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that we know today.

Coca-Cola was named by Frank Robinson, one of Pemberton's close friends, he also penned the famous Coca-Cola logo in unique script.

Dr. John Pemberton sold a portion of the Coca-Cola company to Asa Candler when he was forced to sell because he was in a state of poor health and was in debt.

Candler didn't succeed, at first. He had paid $76.96 for advertising, but he only made $50.00 in profits.

In time, Candler acquired the whole company for $2,300. Candler achieved a lot during his time as owner of the company.

On January 31, 1893, the famous Coca-Cola formula was patented. He also opened the first syrup manufacturing plant in 1884. His great achievement was large scale bottling of Coca-Cola in 1899. In 1915, The Root Glass Company made the contour bottle for the Coca-Cola company.

Candler aggressively advertised Coca-Cola in newspapers and on billboards. In the newspapers, he would give away coupons for a free Coke at any fountain. Coca-Cola was sold after the Prohibition Era to Ernest Woodruff for 25 million dollars. That was a HUGE amount of money in those days!

And the rest is history. But think about this…

If Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist never came up with those right ingredients that, he sold to Asa Candler, then we wouldn’t have the drink we have today. The success of Coke totally depends on the exact ingredients in the exact amounts or the taste will not.



In this blog series, I’m going to tell you the 7 Important Elements that we discovered that worked best for us to create a fun retreat the students loves and that still was spiritually powerful.

You will be able to take these and add them to your retreat to design it in a way to take it to the next level.

But I want you to know, before I get into the 7 elements, that we’ll be putting on a 4-hour, 2-day teleconference event called, “Instant Summer Retreat”.

It's a paid teleconference where we’ll show exactly how we planned for and ran our summer retreats. We’ll even give you all the sample menus, games, discussions, etc. that you need to run it. You can use as they are or tweak to fit you and your group.

Our goal is to give you something where you can almost instantly take it - add a location, students, some adult leaders and pull it off with everything you need.

For those of you who would be interested in something like this, you can sign-up on this page to be on our email list to get more info.

But you don’t need to be a part of that teleconference to have a great retreat. You can just take these elements I'll be showing you to create your own retreat from scratch.

Alright, here are the first two elements...

"7 Important Elements For Summer Retreat"

Before I tell you the first two elements you need to understand the need for fun as an overarching element of any retreat.

This is important. And not just for the reasons you think!

Fun is what attracts the students to the event, but it also relaxes them, bonds them together, opens their mind and hearts to the whole experience.

Ok? So within all of these 7 elements the need for fun is key. Here's the first element...

1. Teams/Team activities - This builds relationships, gets students to work together, adds a new/different challenge element. These are the teams your students will be in throughout the WHOLE retreat.

You should pick teams before you go. I'd encourage you to choose people who get along well, people who you want to get to know each other, etc.

Pray and be very strategic about picking teams. Don't just do it carelessly! These are a key element to the success of your summer retreat or any solo retreat (self-run retreat).

The next element is slightly different.

2. Small Groups - You will use these groups to get the students discussing topics you'll be preaching/teaching about. It's important to strategically plan who are in these groups too.

These groups can even be formed with students that you put on different teams. (In fact, that's a good idea to help connect students not on the same team.)

You should have a leader of each group - whether that's an adult leader or a student leader. But you need someone who's job it is to keep the discussion flowing.

You will use these groups to get your students to know each other on new levels with fun connecting questions. You'll use them to get them to open up to each other. You'll use these groups to get their minds focused on the ideas you're about to share in your talks.

These two elements really add important dynamics to any summer retreat. I'd encourage you to include these on your next retreat.

Next Tuesday, I'll share with you the next two elements.